The Malacca Conspiracy

Have you watched that show NCIS? Love it!

I also enjoy reading books in this vein - we'll call them military thrillers - authors like Vince Flynn, David Baladacci, and Brad Thor. All that to say, when Blog Tour Spot announced they were sponsoring The Malacca Conspiracy, the latest in Don Brown's Navy Justice series, I was IN.

What's not to like? A free book, an interesting subject, and the invitation to spout my opinion.

The Malacca Conspiracy is a fast-paced political thriller taking place across multiple time-zones. The story has all the right ingredients: assassinations, explosions, Wall street, the White House, and a side of romance. But somehow these ingredients didn't a great book make.

Though there are a few central people in the novel, Brown introduces what felt like an entire army of supporting characters. I found the continual introduction of new names (and subsequent mini-character developments) distracting from the main story line. I also found the constant time-zone hops difficult to keep up with.

Brown is also writing from the perspective of a Christian. While it was refreshing to read a book where the hero wasn't a total women-chasing, booze-soaking man-whore, some of the situations and responses didn't ring true. For instance, in a moment of major crisis the president learns of a political assassination and an unfolding terrorist plot, he slams his fist on his desk and yells, "DARN!" Really? Not saying Brown should have loaded the book with expletives, but moments like this totally snapped me out of the reality Brown had created for the reader.

I could shoot for a compliment sandwich here and try to wrap things up on a positive note, but truth is I just didn't care for the book on multiple levels.

But as my grandfather used to say, opinions are like ____________... Everybody's got one.

So that's my opinion, but I know there are lots of other bloggers posting their reviews this week, so go read what they have to say!